Barrier Free Underfoot
Date/ Tuesday, April 23rd
Time/ 2:15pm - 4:15pm
Location/ Interior Resources,
1620 Oak Lawn Ave
Credit/ 2 Barrier Free CEPH
“Help! I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up”.
This commercial often elicits a running joke that people use to get a good laugh. Unfortunately, for more than 14 million people who suffer a fall each
year, it is not a laughing matter. At least 300,000 are hospitalized annually for hip fractures. The most common cause of traumatic brain injuries is due to a fall. The estimated economic impact of fall-related injuries in 2023 surpassed $68 billion. Approximately $754 million is attributed to fatal fall injuries.
How can we as interior designers reduce this impact? Creating a safe home environment by addressing home hazards such as loose rugs, step illusions created by color variations, poor lighting, obstacle courses created by poor furniture placement, reducing cluttered areas, and much more.
In this course, you will learn how to create safety in creative and beautiful ways that will not diminish the look you plan to create for your clients’ homes.
Objectives:
Identify trip and fall hazards in the home.
Develop a list of materials and procedures to make rugs safer in the home
Create lighting designs for walk pathways throughout the home.
Illustrate color techniques that can reduce falls instead of creating hazards
Select beautiful yet safe floor transitions in the home
LaDonna Eriksen
Construction Education Consortium, Founder
LaDonna has been an educator all of her life. She has extensive education experience with over 45 years of teaching with the final 24 years in the classroom at the Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, Nebraska teaching Anatomy/Physiology and Genetics to Health Care pre-professionals. Her extensive knowledge of how the human body functions are what she attributes to much of her understanding of how correct design is invaluable to making a home functional, safe, and healthy to meet the individual family’s needs.
Her involvement with design and construction began in 1985. She has worked with many clients creating beautiful, yet functional environments in their homes. Her first work with a Full Access home was in 1990 working with a woman in a wheelchair, before the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed.
She is especially proud of her work in the area of developing kitchens and bathrooms that meet the needs of today’s blended families and the functional changes that may occur within those families.
LaDonna used many of her past unusual concepts in designing the home that she and her husband Mike designed and built in 2020. She has established many outside-of-the-box designs and solutions that surprised craftsmen working with her.
To make living easier for her clients, she incorporates smart technology, human-centric lighting, biophilia, and wellness concepts with classic features.
LaDonna served on the NKBA Nebraska/Kansas Board for 11 years including President for 4 years and is currently a Founding Partner and President of the Construction Education Consortium.